Utah Track & Field Gets Outdoor Season Off to a Solid Start

Friday, March 25

Palo Alto, Calif.

TBA

University of Utah

Stanford Invitational

Utah Track & Field Gets Outdoor Season Off to a Solid Start

3/25/2011 12:00 AM | Track & Field

March 25, 2011

PALO ALTO, Calif. - The University of Utah women's track and field team gets the 2011 outdoor season off to a solid start at the Arizona State and Stanford Invitationals'. Utah's distance runners led the way, as sophomore Amanda Mergaert finished first in her section of the 1,500m.

"I am very happy with how we did today," said Utah head coach Kyle Kepler. "Even though the distance athletes didn't set personal records, they had a solid day."

The Utah distance athletes competed at the Stanford Invitational. The 1,500m started off slow and came down to the final stretch where Mergaert held off the other athletes with a final split time of 66 seconds. Mergaert's performance earned her first place in her section with an overall time of 4:27.47. In the 5,000m, Alyssa Abbott finished two seconds shy of her personal record with a time of 16:31.54. Abbott's time earned her fifth place in her heat.

Lucy Yates and Mergaert will compete on Saturday in the 800m, which will be held at Cobb Track in Palo Alto, Calif.

The field athletes competed in Tempe, Ariz., at the Arizona State Invitational. In the hammer throw, Anneli Stahl qualified for the final round and finished third overall with a mark of 181-08. In the preliminary round of the hammer throw Cynthia Sanchez threw a personal record of 157-01. Destanae Howerton-Davis hit a personal best mark of 150-08 and Kastin Frostl finished with a throw of 144-08.

In the pole vault, Klaudia Rokossa cleared the barrier of 11ft.-10in, but did not qualify for the final round of the event.

"Overall, I am happy with how we did," said Utah throwers coach Tapio Kuusela. "I can see us doing really well as the season progresses."

The throwers and sprinters continue action on Saturday at 5 p.m. PDT, at Sun Angel Stadium in Tempe, Ariz.